Yarn changing mechanism



y 1, 1955 A. BOUTHILLETTE EI'AL 2,709,351

YARN CHANGING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 6, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet l fA/VENY'WRS: Evamrzlrfiame;

May 31, 1955 A. BQUZ'HILLETTE EIAL 2,709,351

YARN CHANGING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 6, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 f/YYE'NTORS: EUG'ENEJ'Z'HERRE 1/1/7105 y 1955 A. BOUTHILLETTE ETAL 2,709,351

YARN CHANGING MECHANISM Fil ed Nov. 6, 1951 5 Sheeis-Sheet s fA VEJYWPS Eac-EAEJ -HERRE y 1955 A. BOUTHILLETTE ETAL 2,709,351

YARN CHANGING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 6, 19 51 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 y 1, 1955 A, BOUTHILLETTE EI'AL 2,709,351

YARN CHANGING MECHANISM Filed Nov. e, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 JAZVENTfiRS: EUGMIESTHEREE,

YARN CHANGING MECHANISM tonic Beui'hiilette and Eugene St. Pierre, Pawtucket, R. l., assi nors to Hcmphill Company, Pawtucket, R. I., a corporation of Massachusetts Application November 6, 1951, Serial No. 255,086 7 Claims. (Cl. 66-138) This invention. relates to yarn control devices for circular, independent needle, knitting machines. It has particular reference to apparatus for controlling auxiliary yarn levers independently of main yarn levers.

Co-pending U. S. patent application of Eugene St. Pierre, Serial No. 191,385, filed October 21, 1950, now Patent No. 2,679,149, describes a yarn control mechanism having a pattern drum which may be provided with a row of cams for each of the yarn levers to be controlled, a rocker between each cam row and its associated yarn lever, and fingers mounted on a rockable shaft above the rockers, Each finger is adapted to press against an individual one of the rockers to remove it and its associated yarn lever from control by the pattern drum.

This mechanism. has been used on a machine having main and auxiliary yarn feedingstations by locating a second drum and sets of rockers, fingers, etc. at the auxiliary station, and connecting the shaft on which the auxiliary fingers are mounted to the mechanism which rocks the main fingers so that they move in unison.

An arrangement of this sort is satisfactory when all that is required is a synchronous moving of the control fingers at both the main and auxiliary yarn. feeding positions; but it does not permit the auxiliary control to function independently in time of its main counterpart.

Thus, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary yarn lever control which will function independently of a main yarn lever control.

in the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a yarn lever control embodied in this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of this control;

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are diagrammatic views of rockers through which yarn levers arecontrolled, shown in three different positions; and, also, control fingers by which the operation of these levers isvaried;

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are elevations of a part of the mechanism through which the fingers just referred to are operated, shown in three different posit-ions;

Figs. 9, 10, 11 and 12 are also elevations of another part of the mechanism by which the fingers are operated, shown in the four different positions assumed by it during operation;

Fig. 13 is a plan view of a yarnlever control mechanism suitable for use with that disclosed in Figures 1-12 but at the other side of the machine; and

Fig. 14 is a view of a means whereby certain parts of one yarn lever control may be operated and' whereby the energy for operating certain parts of the other yarn lever control may be derived.

As shown in Fig. 1, the yarn control mechanism comprises a frame 1 supporting a driven pattern drum 2 having thereon a plurality of cam rows 3. A rocker lever or yarn lever operating member 4 is pivotally' mounted above the drum 2 on a shaft 5 with one end 6 adapted to engage cam row and the other end 7 engaging an States Patent ice intermediate lever 8 which, in lever 9.

A rotatable shaft 10 is mounted above the rockers 4- in a supporting bracket 11. Shaft: 10 has fixed thereto an arm 12 provided with a pin 13 and, also, an arm 14- provided with a stop 15. If shaft10 rotates in acounterclockwise direction, its rotation Will be limited by theengagement of stop 15 with the edge of bracket 11.

On the other side of the rockers 4, another arm 16 provided with a stop 17, is affixed to shaft 10. When shaft 10 is rotated in a clockwise direction, its rotation will be stopped by the engagement of stop 17' with bracket 18 which cooperates with bracket 11 in the sup port of shaft 10. Thus, shaft 10 is free. to rotate or rock within the limits imposed by stops 1'5 and 17.

Also affixed to shaft 10, adjacent to arm 16, is an arm 19 generally similar to arm 12, similarly'provided with a pin 20. A third arm 21 is also affixed to shaft 1% The free end of this arm is provided with a pivoted extension 22' through which passes a shaft 23 through which the power required to operate the mechanism being described is derived. Shaft 23 may be connected to any suitable source of energy so arranged. that shaft 23 may be moved longitudinally in one direction or. the other, as the case may be, with the desired timing.

The portion of shaft 23 which projects beyond extension 22 is surrounded by a relatively heavy spring 24 beyond which is an adjustable nut 25 whereby the'te'nsion of the spring can be adjusted. Another. and lighter spring as extends from a pin 27 on arm. 21v to the set screw 28 on nut 25. Consequently, when shaft 23 is projected to the left, as. in Fig. 9, the heavy spring 24 becomes inactive but light spring. 26 is, stretched and tension is placed on arm 21 tending to rotate shaft 10v in clockwise direction.

When shaft 23 is moved to. the right, the. tension on light spring 26 is relieved. but heavy spring 24 is compressed against extension 22, with the result that, if otherwise permitted, shaft 10 will be rotated ina counter-clockwise direction. Therefore,.the energy for rotating the shaft 10 in either direction is derivedfrom the position of shaft 23.

The purpose of rotating shaft 10 is to position certain elements yet to be described which are mounted on shaft It) so that certain rockers 4 will be raised out of possible contact with the corresponding cam rows 3' and are thus rendered. inoperative. As previously explained, this will also move the corresponding yarn levers to their idle position.

The. elements referred to are best shown in Figs. 2, 3', 4 and 5. They consist of fingers, such as 29, 30, 31 and 32, so. afiixed to shaft 10 and so proportioned that each is capable of depressing the. tail 7' of a lever 4 and, in consequence, of raising. the other end 6 above the corresponding cam row 3. These fingers may be positioned on shaft 10 inaccordance with the particular yarn lever control required. As shown, fingers 29 and 31 are positioned on shaft 10 so as to operate similarly and at the same time, whereas fingers 30 and 32 are similarly but differently positioned. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, fingers 29 and 31 became operative to depress the corresponding levers 4 when shaft 10fhas'been rotated to its extreme clockwise position. As already explained, this position. is determined by the engagement of stop 17 with bracket 18'. V

Fingers 30 and 32 are so positioned on shaft I0 that when shaft 10 is rotated to its extreme counter-clockwise extent shown in Figs. 2 and 5 as determined by the engagement of stop 15 with bracket 11 (Fig. 8 they engage and depress the tail 7 of two other" rockers with which they are associated and, in consequence, move the corresponding yarn levers into idle position; It will turn, operates a yarn be understood, of course, that there may be more or less fingers than the four mentioned, and they may be positioned so as to be engageable with any desired ones of the rockers 4.

So far, the operation of fingers 29-32 has been described as though they were solely under the control of the driving mechanism shown in Figs. 9 and 11 and which has already been described. This mechanism alone is capable only of rocking the fingers between the two extreme positions shown in Figs. 3 and 5. As previously stated, the finger mechanism may be used at both feeding stations of a two-feed machine provided with main and auxiliary knitting cams and the mechanism being described herein may be operated from the same source of energy as a similar mechanism at the main side of the machine. However, without more, both finger mechanisms would obviously operate at the same time, whereas, for some purposes, the mechanism at the auxiliary side should be timed differently than that at the main side. It is to be understood that the words main" and auxiliary, as just used, merely denote two feeding stations and not specifically the main and auxiliary stations as they are commonly identified on the knitting machine. The devices for controlling the finger mechanism at the auxiliary side of the machine will now be described.

At one end of shaft 10, adjacent arm 12, is positioned) a latch plate 33 provided with an elongated slot 34; Latch plate 33 is mounted upon an arm 35 by means of two screws 36 which pass through slot 34 and by means of which plate 33 can be adjusted. Arm 35 is so pivoted as at 37 that it and latch plate 33 are swingable in plane parallel to that of arm 12. Latch plate 33 is also provided with a notch or latch 38 which, by the adjustment of latch plate 33 already mentioned, may be positioned so as to engage pin 13 on arm 12 when shaft 10 has been turned to its extreme clockwise position as determined by the engagement of a stop 17 with bracket 18 (Fig. 9). Engagement of notch or latch 38 with pin 13 is assured by spring 39 connected between latch plate 33 and any convenient part of the machine.

When shaft 23 is so moved that spring 24 is compressed and would otherwise rotate shaft 10 in counter-clockwise direction, such rotation is prevented through the engagement of pin 13 by notch 38 on latch plate 33 as just described. Thus, shaft 23 and spring 24 constitute a latent source of energy whereby shaft 10 may be rotated in counter-clockwise direction whenever pin 13 is released from notch 38.

When desired, this release can be accomplished by swinging latch plate 33 away from pin 13, whereupon shaft 10 will rotate counter-clockwise to whatever extent is permitted; for example, to the position shown in Fig. 4 wherein both sets of fingers 29-31 and 30-32 are inoperative.

The rotation of shaft 10 is arrested at this point by mechanism shown in Fig. 10. This consists of an L- shaped arm 40 pivoted as at 41 so that: it is rockable in a plane parallel to that of arm 19. Mounted on the upright leg of arm 40 is a slide 42 which is provided with an elongated slot 43 and which is slidably supported upon arm 40 by means of two screws 44 and 45 which pass through the slide and are threaded into arm 40. Slide 42 is also provided with a projecting catch 46 adapted to engage with pin 20 on arm 19.

When shaft 10 has been rotated counter-clockwise to the position shown in Fig. 4, pin 20 will have engaged the underside of catch 46 and will raise it to its uppermost position as determined by screw 45 which is now at the lower end of slot 43. Therefore, the counter-clockwise rotation of shaft 10 is arrested and fingers 2931 and 30-32 are held in the position shownin Fig. 4. In this position, all four yarn levers related to these four fingers are released for operation by their respective cam rows 3 on drum 2.

Further counter-clockwise rotation of shaft 10 to bring the fingers 2932 into the position shown in Fig. is made possible by rocking arm 40 against the tension of spring 47 so that pin 20 is disengaged from catch 46. Thereupon, the energy in spring 24 will function again to rotate shaft to its extreme counter-clockwise position, at which it is stopped by the engagement of stop with bracket 11, as previously described. 7

As a consequence of this last operation, pin has escaped from catch 46 as already explained. Consequently, slide 42 will fall by gravity to its lowermost position shown in Fig. 11 and pin 20 will now be above catch 46. The lowermost position of slide 42 is determined by adjustable set screw 48 mounted in the upper end of slide 42 which overhangs a screw 49 in arm and engageable with this screw.

When shaft 10 is in this position, arm 12 has been swung to the position shown in Fig. 8 so that pin 13 is now engaged by notch 50 at the upper end of latch plate 33. Consequently, if shaft 23 is operated so as to extend spring 26 and thus to rotate shaft 10 in a reverse or clockwise direction, such rotation is prevented by the engagement of pin 13 with notch 50 at the upper end of latch plate 33. Therefore, shaft 10 and fingers 29-31 and 3032 remain in the position shown in Fig. 5.

However, when it is desired to return the fingers to the intermediate position shown in Fig. 4, latch plate 33 is rocked so that pin 13 is released, whereupon the energy stored in spring 26 will cause shaft 10 to rotate in a clockwise direction until it is stopped by the engagement of pin 20 with the upper side of catch 46 as shown in Fig. 12.

To return shaft 10 and fingers 29-31 and 3032 to their original positions shown in Fig. 3, arm 40 is rocked sufiiciently to release pin 20, whereupon spring 26 again causes shaft 10 to continue its clockwise rotation until it is stopped by an engagement of pin 17 with bracket 18 shown in Fig. 9. When this position is reached, the notch 38 in latch plate 33 is caused to engage pin 13 by the action of spring 39. The device is now in its original position ready to start another cycle.

It is understood, of course, that the above description covers only one arrangement and that fingers 29 and 30 may be positioned around shaft 10 so as to be operative in the intermediate position shown in Fig. 4 as well as in the two other positions shown in Figs. 3 and 5. This and the exact nature and arrangement for the parts will depend upon the control required. The primary problem solved by this invention is that of timing the operation of yarn lever control mechanisms as desired and irrespective of what would be accomplished by the source of energy alone.

The rocking of latch plate 33 may be accomplished by means controlled from a pattern drum. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, this consists of a vertical shaft 51 mounted in suitable bearings so that it can turn. The upper end of shaft 51 is bent to form a crank 52 hearing against latch plate 33. The lower end of shaft 51 is also provided with a crank 53 engageable by a cam or cams 54 mounted on the top of pattern drum 55. Whenever a cam 54 engages crank 53, crank 52 will swing latch plate 33 against the tension of spring 39 so that it can not be engaged by pin 13, or will release pin 13 from notch 38 or notch 50, as the case may be. In the form shown, pattern drum 55 is driven from the shaft which carries drum 2, through a ratchet and pawl.

The rocking motion of arm 40 already described is obtained from a pin 56 attached to the side of a cam 57 on a drum 58 which is on the same shaft as drum 2 and rotates therewith. Whenever pin 56 engages the underside of lever 40, the vertical arm will be rocked away from arm 19 so that catch 46 will not engage pin 20 or will release it, as the case may be. Arm 40 is now maintained in the position shown in Fig. 12, for example, by a spring 47.

This invention may be used efiectively as an adjunct to a knitting machine of the type disclosed and claimed in U. S. Patent #2,217,022 for the purpose of carrying out the method of knitting described and claimed in copending U. S. Patent No. 2,676,474, and the method of knitting described and claimed in copending U. S. Patents No. 2,588,718 and No. 2,626,516. It also may be used and, in some respects, is in the nature of an addition to the invention described and claimed in copending U. S. Patent No. 2,679,149, in which a primary source of power is shown from which the operating energy for shaft 23 could be derived.

As shown in Figures 2 and 13, shaft 23 extends from the auxiliary side of the machine to the main side at which it is coupled with crank 59 on a shaft 60 which corresponds generally with shaft at the auxiliary side. Shaft 60, which is rotatably mounted, may be equipped with fingers, such as 61, 62, 63 and 64, similar to fingers 29-32 and for a similar purpose. That is to say they are engageable, respectively, with rockers such as 65, 66,

67 and 68, at times, to throw the corresponding yarn levers (not shown) out of operation. One end of each rocker 65-68 overlies a drum 69 which may be similar to drum 2 and provided with cams such as 70 by means of which the rockers may be rocked up and down. By means of these rockers, the main yarn levers may be raised out of action and lowered into action through intermediate levers 71 as determined by the cam 70 on drum 69, except when this control of the yarn levers by cam 70 is eliminated by one or more of the fingers As shown in Figure 13, fingers 61 and 62 are positioned so as to maintain corresponding yarn levers out of action irrespective of the cams on drum 69, whereas fingers 63 and 64 are in an inoperative position so that the correspending yarn levers may be operated by cams 70 on drum 69. By turning shaft 60, fingers 63 and 64 may be made to engage with levers 67 and 68, thereby holding the corresponding yarn levers out of action and this will render fingers 61 and 62 inoperative so that the corresponding yarn levers will be again under the control of drum 69.

The number and arrangement of the fingers and the timing of the operation of shaft 60 may be varied to accomplish the desired yarn lever cycle.

The turning of shaft 60 may be accomplished through crank 72, one end of which is operatively connected to shaft 60 and the other end 73 of which is connected to rod 74 which, in turn, is pivotally connected to one end 75 of rocker 76. The other end of rocker 76 is adapted to be moved up and down by cams which, in

Figure 14, are shown as lugs 77 on a pattern chain 78.

In this way, rotary movement is imparted to shaft 60 for the purpose described and, also, shaft 23 is energized to provide the motive power for the auxiliary yarn lever control which has been described at length herein.

If desired, fingers 2931 and -32 may be used to prevent the noses 6 of rockers 4 from moving down onto the surface of the drum when released by the drum cams 3, thereby, in operative eflfect, extending the length of the cams as much as desired.

We claim:

1. A device for controlling the operation of a yarn lever in a circular, independent needle, knitting machine, said device comprising a yarn lever operating member, a locking finger adapted to engage said member, means for moving said finger, latch means for preventing said finger from being moved by said moving means, and means for releasing said latch means thereby permitting said finger to be moved by said moving means.

2. A yarn lever control mechanism for a circular, independent needle, knitting machine, comprising a plurality of yarn levers, a pattern drum having a plurality of rows of earns, a plurality of yarn lever operating members, each of said yarn lever operating members being operatively positioned between one of said yarn levers and one of said rows of cams, a plurality of locking fingers, each of said fingers being adapted when in locking position to press against one of said members, means for moving said fingers with respect to said locking position, means for arresting said motion, and means for releasing said means for arresting.

3. A yarn changing mechanism for a circular, independent needle, knitting machine, comprising a plurality of yarn levers, a plurality of levers for manipulating said yarn levers, a plurality of cams for operating said levers, a turnable shaft a plurality of locking fingers for removing said levers from the influence of said cams, said locking fingers being mounted upon said turnable shaft, means for turning said shaft, latch means for preventing the turning of said shaft, and means for releasing said latch means.

4. In a circular, independent needle, knitting machine, a yarn changing mechanism comprising a plurality of yarn levers and a control system for said yarn levers; said control system including: a pattern drum with a plurality of cam rows, a plurality of rockers, each of said rockers providing mechanical linkage between individual ones of said cam rows and individual ones of said yarn levers, means for removing individual ones of said rockers from control by one of said cams, a turnable shaft said means including a plurality of finger elements fixed at various points along and about said turnable shaft and adapted to press against said rockers when said shaft is turned, and means for turning said shaft in gradual steps, said means for turning said shaft including a spring for providing the energy required and latch and release means for controlling the extent and timing of said steps.

5. A circular, independent needle, knitting machine having main yarn levers and auxiliary yarn levers, means for controlling the operation of said main yarn levers, means for controlling the operation of said auxiliary yarn levers, means for simultaneously activating both of said means for controlling levers, and means for delaying the operation of one of said control means in relation to the other.

6. A circular, independent needle, knitting machine having main and auxiliary yarn feeding stations, yarn feeding levers at each of said stations, means at each of said stations for controlling the operation of said levers, common means for providing the energy for operation of both of said controlling means, and means for independently controlling automatically the time of operation of one of said controlling means.

7. A circular, independent needle, knitting machine having yarn levers, intermediate levers for operating said yarn levers and a plurality of cams for operating said intermediate levers, a plurality of elements for removing said intermediate levers from the influence of said cams, spring means for moving said elements, and means for permitting said moving means to operate at desired intervals to desired extents.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,995,995 McAdams Mar. 26, 1935 2,206,097 Lawson et a1. July 2, 1940 2,217,022 Lawson et al Oct. 8, 1940 2,316,823 Thurston Apr. 20, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 266,796 Great Britain Feb. 25, 1927 

